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.He was trying to act as normal as possible, even though he was outraged over Hawke’s deception, but he didn’t want the sheriff to suspect that he planned to leave as soon as he knew Hawke would be in town.The idea did occur to him that Hawke might have just been attracted to him and wanted an excuse for him to stay a few more days, but that didn’t make much sense either.If that was the case, why not just tell him that, or ask him to go out, or hell, make plans to get together after he left to go back to the city? Hawke knew he had a job he had to get back to.Hawke finally left, shooting him nervous glances.He tried to give him a glass of milk to drink and Jace pretended to take big sip and left the glass on the table beside him.“I’ll drink the rest later.Thanks, Sheriff.”“You’re welcome.Drink it all down, now.It’ll be good for you.”“Okay, I will,” he replied meekly.Like hell.The damn stuff was probably drugged.All the sleeping he’d been doing over the past couple of days had to be the result of drugs.The only question was why.What the hell was going on in Blackwater Falls?Jace didn’t move for almost thirty minutes after the sheriff left, in case he was lurking around outside, watching the house.When he decided he’d waited long enough, Jace went out to the barn and swung open the doors.He found his spare key right where he thought it was, and the truck cranked on the first turn of the switch.Jace backed out of the barn and sped down the driveway, headed for his motel room in Huntsville.He didn’t intend to stay there, just grab his clothes and get the hell back home.His boss would have to send someone else up here to get the information, but he’d sure as hell warn them of something weird going on before they came.He wasn’t exactly sure how to get back down the mountain from wherever the sheriff’s house was, but he followed the driveway and turned in what he thought was the direction of Huntsville, and away from the little town of Blackwater Falls.He soon came to a cross road and while he sat there trying to decide which way to go, a car whizzed past him, and he followed it out.Sure enough it led back down the mountain, and Jace sped as fast as he thought he could get away with going down the twisting roads.He thought about Hawke all the way back to Huntsville, unable to get him off his mind.He’d really liked the guy, had felt a companionship with him, almost a bonding.What an idiot he’d been to let his guard down.The more he thought about it, the more convinced he became that the sheriff had only been playing him, just pretending to be attracted.He must have been trying to distract him from whatever was going on in town.Jace was angry with Hawke and with himself for allowing himself to actually think Hawke might have been interested.Arriving at the motel, he grabbed his suitcase, left the key in the room with a note that promised he’d send payment for the extra days when he got back home.What else could he do? He had no idea where the sheriff had put his wallet, so he’d had to leave it behind.He roared out of the parking lot, anxious to get home and back to normal.He had only made it a few miles when he looked up into the rearview mirror and saw the blue lights.Fuck.What now? He pulled over in the parking lot of a large strip mall, waiting.The officer walked up to his truck and said, “I need to see your license, son.”“I…uh.don’t have it.What was I doing, officer?”Looking down at Jace, the officer said, “Well, there’s a lookout on you and I’m gonna have to take you to the station with me.Lock your vehicle and come get in the backseat of my car.”“What? What do you mean, there’s a lookout on me? Officer, I haven’t done anything.”“That’s not for me to decide, son.You’re gonna have to come with me to get it straightened out, so get in the backseat and don’t make yourself any trouble.”Jace couldn’t believe this was happening as he climbed into the backseat of the police car.It had to be that motherfucker Hawke Sutherland who was behind this.Well, by God, he had a story to tell, too, that would beat anything that asshole had to say.The deputy pulled up to a building that looked like a jail and Jace got a sick feeling in the pit of his stomach.“Come on, boy, let’s go,” the officer said, holding open the door for him.They hadn’t put him in cuffs.That had to be a good sign, right?Jace climbed out of the backseat and the deputy escorted him into the building, stopping at an office on the right just inside the door.He told the receptionist, “Tell the sheriff I’ve got that boy we had the lookout on.”Jace heard a voice from the other side of the door, “Bring him on in here.”He stood just inside the door while the Madison County sheriff looked him up and down, suspiciously [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]